Chapter 21: Zen Master Yinke

"Want to see the abbot? This... the abbot is probably busy," the tall, thin monk said with a troubled expression.

"A monk should be at..." Guo Ming named the time for the daily monastic duties.

Having traveled to many famous ancient temples, how could he possibly be unaware of such routines?

"The abbot is occupied with other matters," the tall, thin monk hastily tried to remedy his words.

This made Guo Ming's expression turn even uglier. If one is going to make excuses, one should at least find a better reason.

The temple was already closed to visitors; what could there possibly be to keep him busy?

"You bald donkey, you simply don't know what's good for you," Chu Danqing scolded with a smile, pulling out a small ingot of silver and tossing it to him. "Thank you for the honorable temple's hospitality; we merely wish to offer some incense money."

"And have the abbot copy two scriptures for us to take back. You're dithering over such a small matter."

After catching the small ingot of silver, the tall, thin monk heard there was more money, and greed flashed in his eyes.

Yet, a shiver ran through his heart when he recalled what their "abbot" actually was.

"I, I will go ask the abbot," the tall, thin monk gritted his teeth. He'd have to be a fool to turn down money.

Besides, he was confident he could persuade their "abbot" to meet these two.

With that, the tall, thin monk turned and hurried away.

Seeing this, Chu Danqing and Guo Ming exchanged glances, both wearing smiles.

One played the bad cop while the other played the good cop, breaking through the opponent's greed-driven vulnerability.

About ten minutes later, the tall, thin monk returned to invite them, saying the abbot would see them.

Led by the monk, they soon arrived at a room where a stove was burning, making it extremely warm.

Inside sat a person who looked like an elderly Zen master, with a benevolent expression, twisting Buddhist prayer beads as if silently reciting scriptures.

"This is our abbot, Master Inke," the tall, thin monk introduced.

Chu Danqing and Guo Ming sat down directly in front of him, while Dabao stood behind Chu Danqing, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"I hear the two benefactors wish to obtain two hand-copied scriptures. I have been somewhat inconvenienced lately, so I can only offer scriptures from the Sutra Repository as a gift," Master Inke opened his eyes and slowly said.

"Thank you so much for the Zen master's generous gift," Chu Danqing replied accordingly.

As he spoke, the Zen master's head seemed to swell slightly in size, appearing extremely bizarre.

The two of them simply pretended not to notice and continued to converse with Master Inke.

At first, the topics were quite superficial, and Master Inke was able to handle them. However, as the conversation deepened, Master Inke began to struggle.

Finally, he could only offer: "I am fatigued today. We shall continue our discussion with the two benefactors another day."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Dabao.

Chu Danqing and Guo Ming posed no threat to him, but Dabao was different; he needed to be treated with caution.

"Then the two of us will take our leave," Chu Danqing said. As he stood up, he seized the opportunity to use the Inspect skill on Master Inke.

In an instant, Master Inke's gaze turned fierce, and his mouth split open to reveal sharp fangs.

Fortunately, he reined it in extremely quickly.

"Forgive me, I caught a chill earlier, and my facial features are slightly stiff," Master Inke hurriedly excused himself.

Chu Danqing's expression remained unchanged as he immediately said, "The abbot should still take good care of his health."

With that, the three of them left the room. Once outside, Guo Ming wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "That was close, it scared the wits out of me."

Given Master Inke's sudden change just now, Guo Ming thought a fight was about to break out. Fortunately, the creature wasn't hungry, which prevented an immediate attack.

On the way back, none of the three lingered. Once they returned to their quarters, Chu Danqing finally had time to check the quantified data of the target.

[Master Inke]
[Attributes]
[HP: 10%]
[Mana: None]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Constitution: 1]
[Spirit: 5]
[Perception: 5]

Upon seeing these attributes, Chu Danqing felt something was amiss. Could these possibly be the stats of a Traces-Stalking Tiger?

The name didn't match, the attributes were too low, and it even lacked innate traits and skills.

"This Traces-Stalking Tiger has indeed gained sentience. Not only can it drive ghost minions, but it can now also drape itself in human skin to pass as human. However, it isn't proficient in this sorcery, which is why there are flaws everywhere," Guo Ming said after taking a large gulp of tea to calm his nerves.

Chu Danqing didn't dwell on how Guo Ming knew these things for the moment, instead asking, "Does wearing human skin lower the Traces-Stalking Tiger's strength?"

"Naturally, it does not."

"However, human skin is extremely fragile to a tiger. If one is not careful, it will tear, so it must be handled with utmost care."

Guo Ming added, "Moreover, a stripped skin is no ordinary object."

"If draped over a ferocious tiger for a long time, it will also turn into a ghostly entity. Who knows, it might even become a Painted-Skin Tiger Minion."

At this, Chu Danqing finally understood. The attributes he inspected were correct, but they belonged not to the Traces-Stalking Tiger, but to that human skin.

The earlier sudden agitation of the Traces-Stalking Tiger wasn't triggered by Chu Danqing's Inspect skill, but rather because when Chu Danqing inspected the human skin of Master Inke, the skin underwent a slight mutation, and the tiger mistook it for rebellion, thus issuing a warning to the skin.

Master Inke and the Traces-Stalking Tiger were not the same individual.

"It's a pity we are trapped in this temple. These tiger minions are most fond of sour things. If we could find some fresh plums, dried plums, or other sour items, it would be enough to lure the tiger minions away from the temple," Guo Ming remarked.

Hearing this, Chu Danqing quietly said, "As for that... I have some."

With that, Chu Danqing produced a bottle of vinegar and asked, "Is this enough?"

Guo Ming looked slightly surprised. "Sleeve-Universe? Not quite. To possess such sorcery, Brother Chu's heritage is not insignificant."

"Just wild fox Zen, nothing compared to yours," Chu Danqing retorted.

"There are only three or five tiger minions; this bottle of vinegar would be enough, but unfortunately..." Guo Ming's tone implied it was still not enough.

Chu Danqing then brought out a case of apple cider vinegar beverages and a quantity of sour fruits.

"Brother Chu travels with such provisions?" Guo Ming felt his worldview was slightly challenged.

"There were even more, but Dabao ate quite a few," Chu Danqing answered honestly.

Guo Ming glanced at Dabao's size and decided it made complete sense.

"In that case, we strike tonight!" Guo Ming instantly regained his confidence. "Eliminating the tiger minions in the temple is not difficult."

"Only this Traces-Stalking Tiger..." At this point, Guo Ming paused as a plan formed in his mind. "I remember there is a dry well in the Traces-Stalking Tiger's courtyard."

"You and I can work together to trick the Traces-Stalking Tiger, push it into the well, and have Dabao seal it with a large stone."

"That will buy us more than enough time to stall."

Chu Danqing, however, didn't quite understand. "Why don't we just lure away the tiger minions and kill the Traces-Stalking Tiger directly? There's no need to kill the minions first, is there?"

"Brother Chu doesn't understand. These tiger minions embody the tiger's power; killing them weakens it."

"Once the tiger minions are all dead, the Traces-Stalking Tiger will lose thirty to forty percent of its strength, cutting off its ability to devour minions to recover," Guo Ming explained to Chu Danqing.

"I see." Chu Danqing suddenly understood, then said with a meaningful smile, "Brother Guo comes from an extraordinary background. Your family learning is truly profound."